After being recommended by former South Colonie Central School District Board of Education President James Tim Ryan, Brian Casey was sworn in to the president’s seat at the board’s organizational meeting Tuesday, July 7.
Ryan said, typically, the board president holds their seat for two years, at which time they retire their position and the vice president moves up. Ryan held the seat for many more though, serving as board president from 1998 to 2001 and 2005 to 2009.
This past term, Ryan said he stayed on as board president because the district welcomed a new superintendent of schools, Jonathan Buhner. Ryan wanted to ease the transition for Buhner so he continued on as board president.
Now, Ryan said, was the time for him to retire from his seat for Casey to become president. Board member Leonard Motto is now the vice president. Ryan won a seat on the board in the May Board of Education election, so he will continue to sit on the board as a member.
Casey has been involved with the district for many years, serving as Colonie Central High School’s first school resources officer, a program that places police officers in the school, and a D.A.R.E. officer throughout the district. The 2009-10 school year will be Casey’s fifth year on the board. He served two years as vice president and this is his first year as president. Casey said his reason for running for the board, and for the board presidency, was that he wants to ensure the district’s students of the future have the same quality of education that his three children received in South Colonie.
The 2009-10 school year will be Motto’s fourth year on the board, his first year as vice president. `I’m looking forward to working with the board,` he said. `I’d like to thank Mr. Ryan for his many years on the board as our president.`
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com or read the Wednesday, July 15 print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.
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